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Error in Westwood Gives ‘Day’ a New Look

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Filmgoers who have seen “A Great Day in Harlem,” the Academy Award-nominated documentary, at the Mann Westwood have been getting a less-than-perfect visual image. Up until Wednesday, portions of the top and bottom of the film about a classic photograph of jazz greats taken for an Esquire magazine cover in 1958 weren’t visible due to a projectionist error. This excluded titles or names of artists, or in some cases, parts of their heads.

“The film was shot on video in TV aspect ratio, and then transferred to 35mm,” said Ivory Harris of Castle Hill Distribution, which is handling the film. “But the projectionist has been showing it as if it were a standard 35mm print, using the wrong aperture,” resulting in an image that is too large for the screen.

Harris said that Castle Hill had contacted Mann and had been assured that the problem has been corrected. Spokespersons for Mann did not return calls from The Times seeking comment.

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The film opened last Friday for an unlimited engagement.

“A Great Day in Harlem,” produced by longtime jazz fan Jean Bach, is a project that began five years ago. Though currently screening only in New York and Westwood, the film opens next Friday at the Metro Theatre in Santa Barbara and in Sarasota, Fla., and on March 31 in Indianapolis. Then in April, the picture will screen in Cleveland, New Orleans and Seattle, and in June, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh and in Philadelphia.

Bach has been completely overwhelmed by the response to “Great Day,” which was nominated for a best documentary Oscar. “It’s just fantastic, and totally unexpected,” she said.

On the down side, the producer was shocked when she heard the news that Art Kane, the photographer who took the famed photograph, had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 69 on Feb. 21. “It was terrible,” she said. “He had suffered from depression for years. And while he was on such a high when the nominations came out, soon he was in the doldrums again. If he had to die, it was at least good he knew that the picture had a shot at the Oscar.”

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Mooring in L.A.: Tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore says a key factor in his leaving the life of a top-level jazz free-lancer to join the “Tonight Show” band was that guitarist Kevin Eubanks was in charge. “I knew if Kevin was involved, the band was going to be about something,” says Moore, who has toured and recorded with Horace Silver and Roy Haynes and who replaced Branford Marsalis as the show’s saxophonist about three weeks ago.

And the band is, Moore says. “The music is the force--all of us have that in common, as well as some history,” says the saxman who has known Eubanks for 15 years. “When we come together, we are serious, trying to put out as much music as possible.”

Moore, whose latest album is “Who It Is You Are” on Savoy Jazz, will do the same when he performs Tuesday through March 19 at Catalina Bar & Grill, as part of Eastern Rebellion. That’s the fine quartet that also features Cedar Walton (piano), Billy Higgins (drums) and David Williams (bass).

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Information: (213) 466-2210.

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Hail to the Bop: Though a lot of the material that the scintillating, New York-based Hard Bop quintet plays was composed recently, most of those earthy, vibrant songs recall a golden era of jazz: the mid-to-late ‘50s, when hard bop was the style in vogue.

“Then there was a wealth of great musicians like Donald Byrd, Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham and so many more, and you never heard a bad song on their records,” says Hard Bop pianist Keith Saunders.

The debut album from Saunders and his cohorts--Joe Magnarelli (trumpet), Jerry Weldon (sax), Bim Strasberg (bass) and Eddie Ornowski (drums)--”The Clincher” on TCB Records, is due out in April. In the midst of a West Coast tour, the band plays tonight and Saturday at Jax in Glendale, (818) 500-1604; Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Pedrini Music in Alhambra, (213) 283-1932; and Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Hamlet in Cambria, (805) 927-0567.

Saunders says the players are looking forward to returning to Jax. “Our band thrives in a club like that,” he says. “The music sounds good and the people are right in your face.”

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Datebook: Robust-toned saxophonist Ernie Watts, whose new JVC Records CD, “Unity,” will be out April 10, leads a quartet with keyboardist Dave Witham tonight and Saturday at the Baked Potato Pasadena. Information: (818) 564-1122.

Dale Fielder, a big-toned, solid-footed saxman, plays music from his new and first-rate “Know Thyself” Clarion Jazz CD tonight and Sunday (1 a.m.) at 5th Street Dick’s, (213) 296-3970.

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